Black and Blue
by Cobalite
Summary: When Chance allows a tragedy to befall the forces of light, Destiny steps in and allows three men to change the course of history.
1. The Call

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush.
    First of three prolouges. Feedback can be sent to [][1]cobalite@yahoo.com
    No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder integestion.
    I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection.
    In South America, Riley recieves word something horrible has happened.
    Black and Blue: The Call
    By Cobalite Ice
    _Let me tell you the story 'bout the call that changed my destiny
    Me and my boys went out
    Just to end up in misery
    Was about to go home when there she was standing in front of me
    I said hi
    I got a little place nearby, wanna go?
    I should have said no
    Someone's waiting for me
    But I called my girl up and said
    _
    I hate the jungle. I hate the stench of rotting vegetation, the
    heat, and the bugs. I hate the village women who keep throwing
    themselves at me just because I saved their lives one or twice. I
    hate Graham pretending it's like old times. I hate never knowing if
    the demon we're hunting is realy evil or not. Most of all, I hate the
    fact that I haven't been able to stop.
    _Listen baby I'm sorry
    Just wanna tell you don't worry
    I will be late don't stay up and wait for me
    Say again
    You're dropping out
    My battery is low
    Just so you know
    We're goin' to a place nearby
    Gotta go
    _
    It surprised me to find a brothel here, one even older and more
    established than the one in Sunnydale. The woman, a human, who runs
    the place explianed to me they are commonplace in every area with
    high demon activity. I am not her only human client, of course. I
    suspect some of the other men in my troup frequent here, but probably
    for different reasons. Other needs besides feeding are catered to
    here. It's been a long patrol, and now all I want to do is go home,
    and crawl into a hot shower.
    _Now two months done
    Nothing been won
    I can't take it back
    What's done is done
    One of her friends found out
    That she wasn't my only one
    And it eats me from inside
    That she's not by my side
    Just because I made that call and lied
    _
    It irks me that Spike of all people is the one who revealed me.
    I never thought he'd actually bring her to that flop house. I admit,
    I was waiting for her that night I left Sunnydale. Sometimes, I
    wonder what would have happened if she'd come after me. I miss her,
    the only thing that eases the ache is fangs buried in my skin. Thank
    god the owner is a profesional and doesn't let me lose too much. Can
    you believe she takes my blood pressure everytime I go in?
    My CO is waiting for me.
    _Listen baby I'm sorry
    Just wanna tell you don't worry
    I will be late don't stay up and wait for me
    Say again
    You're dropping out
    My battery is low
    Just so you know
    We're goin' to a place nearby
    Gotta go_
    "Riley, did you tell anyone where you are, or how to contact
    you?" He looks at the me accusingly.
    "Just what continent I was on, sir." I can't imagine why he's so
    upset.
    The cournel holds up a cage. Inside is a carrier pidgoen. "It
    appeared out of no where. It's addressed to you." I pull out a slip
    of paper, it's a phone number with a Sunnydale area code. No wonder
    my commander is angry.
    _*phone rings*
    Listen baby I'm sorry
    *busy signal/touch tone sound*
    "Hello...hello...hello"
    *phone rings*
    Listen baby I'm sorry
    *busy signal/touch tone sound*
    "Hello...hello...hello"
    Gotta go
    oh..... (repeated MANY times)
    _
    I dial the number. A tired voice answered. "We're closed."
    "Giles?" I suddenly realize this is the number for the Magic
    Shop. "It's Riley. Did you send me a carrier pidgeon?"
    I can hear him ask the crowd, muffled by his hand. "Willow sent
    it for you. Riley, you need to come back to Sunnydale."
    "Absoluetly not. Whatever it is, Buffy can handle it."
    For a long moment, there's no answer.
    _Let me tell you the story 'bout the call that changed my destiny
    Me and my boys went out
    Just to end up in misery
    Was about to go home and there she was standing in front of me
    I said hi
    I got a little place nearby
    Gotta go
    _
    Someone else takes the phone. "Soldier."
    "Spike. They still letting you hang around, I see. So, why send
    a magic bird?"
    "Buffy's gone." The man's voice broke.
    _Listen baby I'm sorry
    Just wanna tell you don't worry
    I will be late don't stay up and wait for me
    Say again
    You're dropping out
    My battery is low
    Just so you know
    We're goin' to a place nearby
    Gotta go
    _
    My world ended with those two words. "Gone?"
    "Last night. We figured this was the only way to reach you. She
    wants all of us there, to say goodbye. She wants us to make peace."
    "Us. The three of us?" I can hardly believe my words. "We all
    hate eachother. You, Angel and I all in the same room? It would be a
    blood bath!"
    _Listen baby I'm sorry
    Just wanna tell you don't worry
    I will be late don't stay up and wait for me
    Say again
    You're dropping out
    My battery is low
    Just so you know
    We're goin' to a place nearby
    We're goin' to a place nearby
    _
    "Come home, Soldier, and prove I was wrong."
    "Wrong about what?"
    "Wrong when I told the Slayer you didn't understand." Spike
    pauses on the other end of the line. "You have twenty four hours.
    Burial is after sunset tommorow night. Prove me wrong."
    He hangs up on me, and the decision is already make.
    _Gotta go
    *dial tone*_
    

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	2. Shape of My Heart

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush.   
Second of three prolouges. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]   
No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder integestion.   
I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection.  
In LA, Angel comes to an epiphany two weeks ahead of Joss's   
schedule.   
  
Black and Blue: Shape of My Heart

_Hmm, yeah, yeah  
Baby, please try to forgive me  
Stay here don't put out the glow  
Hold me now don't bother  
If every minute it makes me weaker  
You can save me from the man that I've become, oh yeah_  
  
I can feel it, the moment it happens. It has been centuries   
since I've felt anything this painful. Death, it's finally come to   
take my beloved. I know only two things. Even if I leave this very   
minute, I will be far too late, and that she is not alone. It is the   
only consolation I have. I don't know who's with her, but I know in   
her last moments she is loved. It must be Riley.

I can't see what's happening, but I can feel it. Strong arms   
cradle her, and I wish they were my own. I wonder which monster   
finally had his one good day. I wonder how long she'll be in pain   
like this. I wonder if she knows how much I love her, have always   
loved her. Such pain, I'd always wished her a quick death.  
  
_Lookin' back on the things I've done  
I was tryin' to be someone  
I played my part   
And kept you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart  
_  
The pain was so strong, Cordelia fell to her knees. Doubled,   
amplified. Why? All she could see was pain. A face, whose face?   
Spike, crying, holding someone's body. Paramedics, arriving too late.   
She suddenly hears the vampire's tortured voice whisper the name she   
already knew on some level. 'Buffy.' A young man handcuffed. Another   
whisper, 'DWI, so young, both of them.' Pain, Angel's, Buffy's,   
Spike's, and soon, Riley's. Cordelia started sobbing.  
  
_Sadness is beautiful  
Loneliness is tragical  
So help me I can't win this war, oh no  
Touch me now don't bother  
If every second it makes me weaker  
You can save me from the man I've become  
_  
"Cor?" Gunn gently touched her. She'd never reacted like this   
before. She didn't acknowledge him, just got to her feet, and grabbed   
her coat. "Cordy, where are you going?"

"To Angel."

"What?" Gunn blocked her path. "We don't need him. Why would you   
go back there?"

"He needs us."

Wesley snorted. "He certainly doesn't seem to think so."

"It's Buffy." It was all Cordelia needed to say for Wesley to   
understand.  
  
_Lookin' back on the things I've done (back on the things...)  
I was tryin' to be someone (tryin' to be...)  
I played my part   
And kept you in the dark (in the dark)  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart  
_  
"Who's Buffy? Are you two gonna tell me or not?" Gunn had asked   
four times on the way to the Hyperion, and had gotten no answer.

"They were in love. She was a vampire slayer, things didn't work   
out." Cordelia tested the door, finding in locked. 

"The girl that made him lose his soul a few years back?" He   
asked.

"Yeah."

"So what's wrong? She need our help?"

"She's beyond help." Wesley unlocked the door.  
  
_I'm here with my confession  
Got nothin' to hide no more  
I don't know where to start   
But to show you the shape of my heart  
_  
Angel lay sprawled just inside the entrance. Tears of blood   
rolled down his face, continuing his crying even after he'd lapsed   
into unconsciousness. Cordelia knelt beside him, and opened his   
eyelids. There was a golden film over them. "She's still hanging on.   
I didn't think she'd make it until we got here." She looked at the   
two men. "Get out."

"What?" Gunn sounded offended.

"I said get out. I'm his messenger, neither of you should see   
what he'll be like when he wakes up."

"Cordy, are you sure?" 

"I'm sure."

"When did you get all duty bound?" Gunn asked. 

"I can still feel it, okay? In real time, with every sense.   
She's dying, and he can feel it too."  
  
_I'm lookin' back on things I've done   
I never wanna play the same old part  
I'll keep you (keep you in the dark) in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of my heart  
_  
After they left, she opened his eyes again. The film was gone. 

So was Buffy. "Angel."

"She's gone." His voice broke.

"I know. She, she wasn't alone. I know that was her biggest   
fear."

"Who was with her? Riley?"

"No, she was Spike. Something's happened to him. They were   
patrolling, together." Cordelia brushed away a tear. "She thought of   
you, in those last moments." Her words could offer him no comfort.   
  
_Lookin' back on the things I've done  
I was tryin' to be someone (tryin' to be someone)  
I played my part  
Kept you in the dark  
Now let me show (Now let me show you the true)  
You the shape (shape of my heart) of my heart  
_  
Morning dawned, and Cordelia left him to his misery while she   
went to change clothes. The phone rang. Angel numbly picked it   
up. "Hello?"

"Sire. I need to talk to you."

"I already know Spike."

"I thought so, but... She wanted you to come home for the   
funeral."

"I doubt Riley wants me there."

"Soldier left town. That's why she put up with me on patrol."

"Why aren't you dancing in the streets? Why were you, of all   
people, with her tonight?"

"You once told me, 'To kill this girl, you have to love her.'   
I've gotten to the point where I love her too much to kill her."  
  
_Lookin' back on the things I've done  
I was tryin' to be someone  
I played my part   
And kept you in the dark  
Now let me show you the shape of  
_  
"Did she leave a will?" The moment the words passed his lips, he   
realized how stupid is sounded. A twenty year old with a will.

"A detailed one." Spike could hear the shock on the other end of   
the line. "She's to be buried after sunset. I can tell you we won't   
be the only demons in attendance. Already, Joyce is getting   
condolence calls from every born-again demon in Sunnydale. Angel, she   
wanted the three of us to give her eulogy."

Angel didn't ask who the third was, he knew. "You said Riley was   
gone."

"He is, and I haven't a bloody clue where he is! Slayer wanted   
him here, and I have no clue where to find him." 

"I might have an idea. I'll be there in a few hours, Spike." For   
the first time in months, Darla was the farthest thing from his mind.  
  
_Show you the shape of my heart_

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	3. Get Another Boyfriend

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush.
    Third of three prolouges. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]
    No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder integestion.
    I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection.
    In Sunnydale, Spike is there when every other vampire's
    fondest wish comes through. He wishes he wasn't.
    Black and Blue: Get Another Boyfriend
    By Cobalite Ice
    _Let's talk about one, baby
    You gotta hear me out
    Do you really wanna be the last to know
    What it's all about
    _
    Slayer's driving me up the bloody wall, she is. Moping about the
    lost boy of hers. The only plus side of her being like this is she
    hasn't noticed I'm always around. Any one not busy analyzing every
    aspect of their former relationship with a cardboard cutout would
    realize their former worst enemy was spending all his waking hours
    with her, or those close to her. "Buffy, you're driving me insane! He
    left, he was an idiot. How long are you going to think about what you
    did wrong?"
    "Until I figure it out. I need to know why all of them leave me,
    why I'm not worth their time." She turns to look at me, as if daring
    me trivialize that.
    _Let's talk about two, you say
    He's the essence of your life
    But he'll eat you up from inside slow
    And then he doesn't wanna know
    I'm telling you
    He'll eat you up from inside
    And then he doesn't wanna know
    _
    "I'm still here." I remind her.
    "It figures you'd be the one who stuck around. You hate me." She
    kicks a stone.
    "It's not that I hate you, luv. I'm a vampire, you're a Slayer.
    We're not supposed to be buddies." Even as I say the words, I'm
    begging in my head for her to tell me I'm wrong.
    "I know." That's all she says, for a moment. "What are we,
    anyway?"
    "What'dya mean?"
    "We're not enemies, we're not friends, we're not even on the
    same side of the equation half the time. So why are we walking
    through the cemetary together, killing your relatives?"
    I was afraid that was what she meant. "Boredom?"
    It's seems to be the answer she's looking for. "Boredom it is."
    _Listen
    I mean it
    There's nothing that he's worthy of
    He's just another playa'
    Playin' in the name of love
    I've seen enough
    Now this must come to an end
    Get another boyfriend
    _
    "Riley isn't worth your trouble, Slayer."
    She looks ready to smack me. "Why might that be?"
    "So you don't love him. Teenagers aren't supposed to love their
    boyfriends. Hell, he probably doesn't even know what real love is."
    "I'm younger than he is. Do you think I don't know what love
    is?" I realize I've just demeaned her entire relationship with the
    Poof.
    "You're an old soul, Slayer. For you to have made it to twenty
    is proof of just how tied you are to this world."
    "You think he doesn't really love me?" She actually looked
    comforted by the thought.
    "I don't think someone like him could really love someone like
    you."
    _Let's talk about what he's done
    To become your number one
    Or was it all the promises of diamonds, pearls and party dresses
    That turned you on
    I've seen it before
    Don't take(!) anymore
    Three, two you're through for sure
    Just go get on with your life
    Stop! acting like you've given up
    I'm telling you to go get on with your life
    Stop acting like you've given up
    _
    We come to an intersection, and I pause to light a cigarrette.
    She keeps walking, deep in thought. Suddennly, the squeel of breaks
    fills the air. I look up, and quicker than the eye can see, start
    running. Too late. We're both fast, but neither of us can do nintey
    five from a dead stop. Her scream replaces the mechanical noises.
    Mere seconds after she falls, I reach her. I expect her to
    already be dead. She isn't. I expect her to be unconscious. She
    isn't. Her eyes are filled with blood. She's chanting, "Oh god, oh
    god, oh god." Over and over again. I can smell the blood, there's too
    much of it lying in pools around her rather than in her veins.
    "Buffy." I cradle her head in my lap, unsure what else I can do.
    _Listen, I mean it (I mean it)
    There's nothing that he's worthy of
    He's just another playa' (playa')
    Playin' in the name of love
    I've seen enough
    Now this must come to an end
    (must come to an end)
    Get another
    Get another
    Get another boyfriend
    _
    "So fast." She mumbles. "Didn't hear until it was too late."
    "I know." I find myself running my fingers through her hair, and
    she isn't objecting. I realize this is probably the only thing that
    would ever make her let me touch her. I look up, and see a boy
    stumble drunkenly from the truck. "It's a kid."
    Buffy follows my eyes. "Bastard."
    "What?" I can understand her being angry, but...
    _Wh-wh-why?
    Yeah
    Wh-wh-why
    Get another boyfriend
    Wh-wh-why
    Wh-wh-why
    STOP!
    _
    "I know him." Her sentence is followed by a gurgle of
    blood. "Should have known it would be you."
    "Me what?"
    "The one here, with me. Not the man I love, or the one who loves
    me. The man who's here holding me is the one who should have struck
    the fatal blow." I don't know if her words should sting, or heal.
    With our hearing, I know she hears the sirens the moment I
    do.
    They're too far away. In the distance, the town clock bongs
    midnight. "It's Saturday."
    She gives a bitter laugh. "You promised me a quick death."
    Now that hurts. "Sorry. I wish I could."
    _Heyeaheh
    Hear me out
    You must know (you must know)
    What it's all about (baby)
    That he's just a player in love (love)
    This must come to an end
    Get another boyfriend
    _
    "I always knew I could die at any minute. I also kinda thought
    you might be here. However," she pauses to cough up some
    blood. "Lying on the street after being hit by a drunk driver was
    never one of my worst nightmares. It's actually kinda mundane. Not
    how I imagined it at all."
    "What is your worst nightmare?" I remember stories from when I
    first arrived, when the Slayer was actually a vampire for a few
    hours. "Still the same as it was back then?"
    "My greatest fear is dying alone." She grabs my hand. "I guess
    you're not so bad, Spike."
    Her eyes start to close. She's slipping, I can feel it. This is
    my last chance. "I love you."
    She opens those beautiful eyes, and stares at me. "Are you
    serious?"
    "Yes."
    She smiles at me, one last brilliant smile. She whispered his
    name, a long drawn out, "Angel."
    Then I was alone. As the ambulance finally arrived, I looked
    into the sky, and howled her name. The blood moon hung high in the
    sky.
    _
    Listen
    I mean it (I mean it)
    There's nothing that he's (ain't nothing that he's worthy of) worthy
    of
    He's just another playa' (playa')
    Playin' in the name of (love) love
    I've seen enough
    Now this must come to an end
    Get another
    Get another
    Get another boyfriend
    _
    I showed up at the Watcher's shop still drenched in her blood.
    Anya gives me a disgusted look. "You're making a mess."
    The boy jumps to his feet. "Alright, Spike, what's chasing you,
    and whose blood are you covered in."
    I can't bring myself to answer him, just sit in one of the nicer
    chairs, Giles wincing as I stain it. I light a cigarette, and they
    notice my hand is shaking. Red comes over to me. "Spike, what's
    wrong?" I think she can see the trail of the tears I've cried.
    "We were walking." I realize I'm in shock. Didn't think that
    could happen to a vampire. "She never saw him coming until it was too
    late. Couldn't save her."
    "Something's happened to Buffy." Now the Watcher's listening.
    "She's gone." Its starting to sink in. "She's gone."
    Maybe the expect me to break out in song and dance. Maybe they
    expect me to rub it in their faces. Instead, I shakily get to my
    feet. "Sunnydale General." I go home, to mourn in private. They watch
    me go in shock.
    _Listen (Hear me out)
    I mean it
    (You must know)
    There's nothing that he's worthy of
    (What it's all about)
    He's just another playa' (playa)
    Playin in the name of love
    (he's just a playa in love)
    I've seen enough
    Now (this) this (must come to an end) must come to an end
    _
    I think of what I told Buffy, right before she died. I think
    about it as we open her will in the early morning hours. I shouldn't
    have told her what I thought about Riley. I'll never know if it was a
    comfort or something that she dwelled on as she died. Her will states
    that she wants a night funeral. She wants three eulogies given. Given
    by the three men who loved her. She knew, somehow. I don't know how
    to find the soldier, so I call the one man who probably already
    knows she's gone. "Sire. I need to talk to you."
    _Get (Get another boyfriend) another boyfriend_
    **The Begining**
    

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	4. Yes, I Will

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Buffy Summers is dead. Now, three men's lives seem to be at a dead end, until a visitor appears.

__

This is no ordinary love  
And I can never have enough (I can't get enough)  
Of all the things you've given to me  
My heart, my soul, my everything  
Every night I thank you Lord (I thank you Lord)  
For giving me the strength to love her more  
And more each day I promise her  
As long as I hear those three words

****

Black and Blue: Yes, I Will  
By Cobalite Ice

"I never thought I'd be doing this. I'd always seen myself in those chairs down there, somewhere in the back, watching them put her into the ground, knowing in the end I'd won. Well, things change. For the better part of three years, Buffy and I spent most of our time trying to kill each other. Then, the world almost went to hell in a hand basket, and we had to work together. Maybe that was when it started. Dru left me and called me obsessed. She saw what I couldn't. Most of you that know me think I just hung around because I had no where else to go. You're in shock that her will asked me to give the first speech, and this is the first time you've ever heard me call her by her true name. None of you realized I had fallen in love with her." Spike looked out at the shocked faces in the audience. 

"What, you think I'd really still be here helping you if I didn't have a reason? A few weeks ago, Buffy came to me with a question about two girls we both knew, who had died. She didn't like the answer I gave her. Buffy didn't want to dance with death, or me. Not that night, and not the night a truck hit her. See, I was walking with her that night, and if I'd been paying more attention, I wouldn't be standing here giving her eulogy.

It was the first time the Scoobies had seen him cry. Angel walked up to the stand next, still looking vaguely shocked. He looked out at the grim congregation. "I never wanted to do this either. I'm sure none of did. When Buffy and I first met, she knocked me head over heels, literally. We spent most of her high school years together, on and off. Now, looking back, it was off more than on, through no fault of our own mostly. I'm always going to wish I'd had a chance to tell her what my future holds." He pulled a ring from his pocket. "I'm always going to wish I'd had a chance to tell her what this meant." The claghad glittered in the moonlight. 

"The one thing this has done has snapped me back into reality. I've been...drifting, lately. Dwelling on the past too much, and I'm sure none of us want that. An old girlfriend was trying to worm her way into my life, and just being in the same city as her was making me go a little crazy." Angel met Cordelia's eyes in the audience. "I almost made one of the biggest mistakes in my life. I wonder if Buffy knew that her death would bring me back to myself. I'd like to think she knew that I still loved her as much as the day I left Sunnydale, and that I will for the rest of my existence. I'm not even surprised Spike feels the same way about her. We're more alike than either of us would ever want to admit. We both fell in love with sunshine, and got burned."

Moments later, Riley stood in his place. "I'm sure none of you expected to see me again. I wasn't expecting the call that came just a few hours after I landed in Nicaragua. The call that told me Buffy was dead. She was a freshman in the Psyche class I was TA for. I knew from the moment I saw her, as soon as I recovered from the head blow, that she was someone special. After I'd finally worked my way past her defenses, Professor Walsh died, and I almost lost her because of my own prejudices. I left the military last summer, and eventually, I began to see Buffy wasn't in love with me. Oh, she cared for me, and if I wasn't in love with her, it would have been enough." 

"I then proceeded to make the biggest mistake of my life. Rule number one of dating, never cheat on a girl who can shot put you through a wall. She found out, and I had to leave, even though she came to stop me. She wasn't there because she loved me, she was there because she didn't want to be alone. Now, I'll always regret I wasn't there when she died. I couldn't make her love me, so I ran, as far as I could, and by the time I was done running, Buffy was gone." He walked off the stage, and Willow took his place. 

"If any of you would like to say a few words, now is your chance." Willow was surprised when several people stood. 

Jonathan spoke first. "I'm back, and this time, I'm gonna try to stay. If it weren't for Buffy, I'd be dead. If it weren't for her, our entire graduating class would be dead. She was always one step removed from us, trying to keep us safe, and the only time we ever thanked her was on prom night. Now, we failed to protect her from us. It was a member of the class of 1999 driving the car that killed her."

"My name, for a while now, is Anne. I run a teen help center in Los Angles. When I met Buffy, my boyfriend and I were involved in a cult. She showed us the light, in her own forceful way. Later, in LA, she managed to save me from my own stupidity again, even if Rick didn't make it. She gave me her apartment, and a new name. Standing here today, I've gone from a girl who couldn't take care of herself to a woman who cares for others. I never got to thank her."

"I had to get special permission just to be here." Faith held up her arm, and rolled down the sleeve. A tracking bracelet was on her wrist. "Buffy was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. I did a lot of bad things to her, and I never had the chance to apologize. I'm up for parole in six weeks, and I'll be back in town, if you want to start building the gallows. I just want you to know, this time, I'm ready for my destiny." 

It went on for another hour. Hank Summers, sitting next to his ex-wife was amazed. "She came a long way from the girl who burned down a school, didn't she? All those people, they all looked like they'd have died for her."

"Most of them would have." The outdoor funeral began to wrap up, and Full of Grace played in the background. She waved the three men standing in front of the casket over. "Especially them."

Hank took them in, one by one. "All three of you? You look as if you couldn't be more different."

"Buffy had this magic around her." Riley replied. "And we're not that different."

Hank looked at Angel wearing all black and a leather duster, Spike in sneakers, and Riley in a suit. He just shook his head. "If you think so."

Angel watched them lower her into the ground. "We should go. I think the ceremony is starting here at one a.m."

"Why would there be a ceremony here that late?"

Spike lit a cigarette. "It's not every day a Slayer like Buffy dies. Trust me, mate. You don't want to meet the side coming here to honor her, or the side that's here to dance on her grave."

"Slayer?" Hank's voice went up an octave. 

Joyce sighed. "I'll explain later."

All night long, the various denizens of night came to pay their respect to the fallen Slayer. A sad man with dyed hair looked up at the full moon before saying a prayer. Oz briefly wondered if it were sacrilege to pray to the powers in Hebrew.

A group of Kleeth demons said thanks for protection from the Initiative. An intern from the hospital lit a candle. Even Glory stopped by, cursing about how now she'd never find the key. A group of fledges brought a boom box and danced to rap music for half an hour. 

The current master vampire showed up, and sat staring at the grave stone. He'd arrived just a month ago, and with the mess with Glory, he and his clan had been keeping their noses clean. He'd be the first Master in Sunnydale to outlive this Slayer. His only had two regrets. She hadn't taken out that annoying bitch Glory beforehand, and that she hadn't died in battle, but by the stupidity of a human. He was two hundred years old, and while he'd seen his share of Slayer fall, one even by his hand, they'd all died honorably, in battle. "Someone must hunt the hunter. You played the game admirably. The boy who did this, he will die painfully." One hunter's promise to another.

Somewhere in the bowels of hell, the First pitched a hissy fit. All his careful planning with Wolfram & Heart, gone with the death of this one girl. 

Then the skies opened up, and the Powers began to cry. Never before had the other side grieved so deeply for one of their warriors. And Chance and Destiny came to an agreement. When even Hell mourns, something must be done.

The bottle passed between the three of them silently. Neither had said anything since coming back from Willie's. Spike stared at the amber liquid in his shot glass. "Well, mates, where do we go from here?"

"Someone has to stay here. Like it or not, I have a mess to clean up in LA. I can't leave, not now."

"I have to go back tomorrow morning. We're in the middle of a purge." Riley looked to Spike. "What about you?"

"It's not like I could go back to Dru and live happily ever after, is it?" He said sarcastically. "She and Darla are having to much fun bothering Angel. I'll stay here, keep an eye on Joyce and the kid, make sure there aren't too many vampires running around."

"That reminds me." Angel muttered.

"Reminds you of what?" Riley asked.

"Is it appropriate to send flowers when you're responsible for the death of over a dozen lawyers?" 

"You always did have a thing against solicitors. Are you really responsible, or are you just being all soul ridden?" Spike watched Angel go a shade paler.

"Well, my sire and favored are massacring LA, and I did bolt the door." Angel took another shot.

"You two aren't making any sense." Riley muttered, well on the way to being drunk himself. That's why he didn't think it was odd when an ethereally beautiful woman appeared in the center of the room. "Isn't that interesting. I'm drunker than I thought."

"I don't even have a buzz yet." Spike commented. "And who the bloody hell are you?"

She bowed. "I need your help."

"What else is new?" Angel asked.

"I am Destiny."

"Get out of here." Spike muttered.

"I'm serious." She looked offended.

"So am I. You're not welcome here, not after what just happened."

"What happened was not my fault. How do I say this without making a fool of myself?" She spoke so quickly none of them could understand her.

"Say that again, slower." Riley told her.

"I...I lost Sunnydale in a card game." Destiny looked down at her feet, ashamed.

"You lost us in a card game!" Angel jumped to his feet, his eyes glowing yellow.

"I had four of a kind. How was I supposed to know Chance had a royal flush?" Destiny took a step back, even though she logically knew he couldn't hurt her. Of course, that's what the Oracles had thought.

Spike arched an eyebrow. "I've lived more than a century, and never seen one. But Luv, wasn't it stupid to play poker with Chance? That's like..." He was at loss for an appropriate simile.

"Trying to win at chess with Death? At least that's do able." Angel sat back down, and motioned her to a seat. "So, why come here now?"

"The Powers cried. Do you know the last time they cried over a couple? It was when Cleopatra and Marc Anthony died. That was in 30 BC."

"So they cried for Buffy. A lot of people did. You still haven't told us why you're here." Now, even Riley looked interested.

"They told Chance she'd made a mess of things, and now we were going to lose the End of Days. According to our divinations, without Buffy to keep you going, all three of you will be out of the fight within the year. You're being given an unheard of second change to make things right. 

"It's been more than twenty four hours since she died." Angel mumbled, and got two odds looks. 

"You're not going to prevent her death, you're changing history. You can keep Angelus from rising." Destiny watched the light coming into Angel's eyes. "That would make a lot of people happy, wouldn't it?"

Then, the light dimmed. "I can't stop them. I couldn't even stop myself that night."

"The gem." Spike suddenly understood why he was needed. "The ring could protect him. Then, I'd never lose Dru, and wouldn't end up with this chip in my head."

Destiny shrugged. "You'll have to see for yourself. All I can tell you is that contact with your past selves can only increase your chances of success. With the exception of Riley, of course."

"I'm nothing, am I? Without Spike or Angel, this couldn't happen, but you could use any human guy for this." Riley was beginning to think that maybe he really wasn't needed by them, or anyone.

Destiny caressed his cheek. "You weren't meant to be nothing, Riley Finn. You weren't meant to fall in love with Buffy, she was just supposed to show you a new way. Chance, she didn't like you. She's always preferred Angel, and look what she did to him."

"You don't even have to ask if we'd do this. I think we'd rather have Buffy alive, and never know what this was like." Angel saw her guilty expression. "We won't know, right? We'll be destroyed by the temporal loop."

"You will all be removed from the service of the powers within a year. I cannot cut your lifestring, you must live out the remainder of your mortal, or immortal life in the new time line. The only way you can die before that is the way you would have in the original time line. One day, one of you will not wake up, followed not long after by the other two."

"I'll do it." Spike stood. "I'm not gonna let six months either way keep me from saving Buffy. If she's gonna die, she'll do it at my hands!" He too got odd looks, but it seemed appropriate, so nothing was said.

"I'll do it. Being in Hell was easier than knowing she's dead and I'm not." Angel stood next to Spike.

Riley stood. "The man I was two years ago isn't ever going to end up at a vampire brothel, and lose the love of his life because of it."

"Thank you." Destiny whispered, and then they were gone.

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	5. The Answer To Our Life

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder integestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Angel, Riley, and Spike are two years into the past. At the same time they arrive, Buffy starts having dreams.

__

Show me a reason  
Give me a sign  
Tell me the way we  
Fall outta line  
Is it today or is it tonight  
We'll find  
The answer to our life

****

Black and Blue: The Answer To Our Life  
By Cobalite Ice

"Where are we?" Riley picked himself up off the floor.

"The mansion. No one's here yet, Dru and I are still in the factory." Spike peeked out behind the curtain. "Sun's still up. We'll have to use the tunnels."

"Let's get started. I'm not sure what day it is." Angel pulled back a floor rug. "Thank god for the Underground Railroad, or we'd be stuck here until nightfall." He dropped out of sight.

Spike sighed. "What the Poof's forgotten is he doesn't know where the ring is buried. Alright, Soldier Boy, how are you at Recon?"

"I was in cover ops, oh yea with little fangs. What do you want me to do?"

"Find out what day it is. Hell, find out what time it is. We're gonna need supplies, and someone has to keep an eye on this time's Buffy and Angel. Don't want his soul to take a holiday before we find the ring, right?"

"I'm not going to be your errand boy." Riley growled.

"Fine, go stalk Buffy. Take your turn, the rest of us sure have." Spike dropped down into the tunnels.

Riley suddenly realized what he said. "You were watching us, weren't you? Weren't you!"

-----

Night had finally fallen and Spike was watching himself struggle to stand. It suddenly occurred to him how much someone who couldn't age could change. What he'd told Angel all those years ago in the school was a lie. "I'd give it a rest. You're not ready yet."

"I know that!" The Spike of this time growled, then suddenly realized it had been his own voice rather than Dalton's lecturing him. "What the hell?"

"Shut up, stay put, and listen to me. As soon as your legs heal, you're gonna take Dru and get out of this town."

"Why should I listen to you? You're just some kind of shape shifting demon." Spike turned around, ready to go find someone to throw the other man out on his arse. 

"Do you fancy ending up exactly like the poof?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike growled. 

"It means that if you stay in town, you'll end up exactly like Angel. I'm from the future, mate. I'm trying to save you from a fate worse than that chair you're sitting in."

"A soul." Spike had never sounded so afraid.

"Worse. Angelus could still kill if he wanted to, I don't have that luxury." The Spike of the future indicated the small, healing scar on the back of his neck. "Government issue, can't harm anything human. If you're stuck here long enough, you may even get to meet the man who caused it."

"You brought him with you?" 

"I didn't exactly have a choice. Now, are you gonna leave town like I asked?"

"Me and Dru are on the first ship for Brazil as soon as I can walk." Spike wondered why his other self had winced.

"Not Brazil."

"But we love Brazil."

"Not Brazil. Trust me mate."

-----

The dreams were coming, the three travelers from the future could not them. So while the Spike, Riley and Angel of the future tried to stop it from coming, Buffy saw it in her sleep. 

__

I can see Angel standing at the pool table. He smiles and starts toward me. I start walking to meet him somewhere in the middle. Suddenly, Drusilla is behind him. She is vamped out, and thrusts a stake into his back and pulls it out. He arches backward in pain. "ANGEL!" I cry out, knowing it's too late. We reach out for each other. 

Before I can touch him his hand begins to disintegrate. The rings on his fingers fall to the floor. His body doesn't explode, but just crumbles to dust. Drusilla lowers the stake and takes the few steps over to me.

"Happy Birthday, Buffy."

She woke with a scream on her lips, and the driving need to make sure Angel was safe. It was just after two am. Buffy wrote a note to her mother that her New Year's resolution was to jog every morning before school, and she wouldn't be there when she woke up.

Angel sleepily opened his door ten minutes later, surprised to see her. "Buffy. Is something wrong?"

She just nods yes and steps into his embrace. Angel is unsure what's wrong, and just holds her tight, shutting the door.

-----

"No prophecies, no portents, not a peep from Spike." Giles slammed his book shut. "Things are perfectly calm, except for Buffy's disturbing dreams."

"So, when do you think it will start raining frogs?" Angel joked, leaning back in his chair.

"The next three or four hours, perhaps." Giles rubbed his temples. 

"I'm gonna go home then. Tell Buffy I'll meet her at the Bronze?"

"Of course." Giles watched him leave, noticing at the last minute that Angel had left his duster behind. "He'll come back for it." Moments later, the door in the stacks opened, and Angel walked back in. Wearing his jacket, and looking like his best friend had just died. "Angel, what's wrong? And where did that coat you're wearing come from?"

"Were you expecting me?" Angel wracked his brain for what had occurred on this date, but the year before his sojourn to hell was only one of the happy times that had been lost to time.

"You just left." Giles pointed at the abandoned duster. "And you look like a kicked puppy."

"Do me a favor, and don't ever say that again." Angel sat down, throwing his own coat next to its twin, and noticed the stack of books. "Were we researching something?"

"Not really. Angel, are you alright?" Giles wondered how you could tell if a vampire was sick.

"Not alright is really an understatement at this point." Angel sat down, and rubbed his temples. "You're probably not going to believe what I'm about to tell you."

"We live on the Hellmouth. I'm the guardian of a teenager who kills demons, and you're a vampire with a soul. I doubt you could surprise me." Giles indicated he should go on.

"I'm from three years into the future. Myself and two other have been sent back to stop a chain of events that will ultimately lead to Buffy's death."

"I think I need a pot of tea." 

"That's all you're gonna say?" Angel was confused, until he remembered at this point Giles was still pretending that he wasn't a monster. "I expected you to take a little more convincing."

"Yes, well, it would help if you could give me some assurances." 

"You're really hoping this will be a happy birthday for Buffy, because next year is the Circumation."

"I believe you." Giles sat down across from his visitor. "What chain of events are you trying to prevent?"

"If things go according to plan, you'll never even have to know." Angel looked around the library wistfully. "I'd forgotten."

"Forgotten what?"

"What it was like to just sit and talk with you. We weren't exactly on the best of terms when Buffy died. I also came to warn you about the two men that came with me."

"Do tell." Giles had assumed it was Xander or himself that came with Angel.

"One of them is Riley Finn, a member of a military group that will form here in a few years. They hunted, and conducted experiments on demons. They're actually responsible for the second person with me. Spike."

"Spike?" Giles grimaced. "As in your grandchilde, bane of our existence? Why on earth would he help you save Buffy?"

"Because we all have one thing in common." A man Giles had never seen, but could assume was Riley, walk out of the stacks. "We were all in love with her."

That's when Giles started laughing, and when neither joined him, he realized they were serious. "Dear lord. Well, if some force can make the three of you work together, I'll do anything I can to help."

"We'll need the Codex."

Giles fetched the book. There was indeed a new entry. "It's in some sort of code."

"I guess that answers my question." Riley took the book. "It's alpha-numeric. It's gonna take me a few days."

"Thank you, Giles." Angel gave him a half smile, and grabbed his coat before following Riley out.

Giles just sat down. It was going to be a very long week.

-----

Buffy knew she had to sleep eventually, and when sleep did come, she regretted it.

__

"Shh. Don't worry about it." I brush my fingers over his lips and across his cheek, and kiss him softly. He returns the kiss, and it becomes more passionate. Behind us the vortex continues to get larger. I break off the kiss and look deeply into Angel's eyes. "I love you."

"I love you."

I touch his lips with my fingers again, and say the three words that seal our fate. "Close your eyes." I nod reassuringly, and he closes his eyes. I try hard not to start crying, and kiss him again gently. 

Then I step back, draw my sword and thrust it into his chest. His eyes whip open in surprise and pain, and a bright light emanates from the sword. I step away from him, and he reaches out to me and looks down at the sword thrust completely through him. 

He looks at me, completely bewildered by this turn of events. I can only stare at the sword protruding from his chest, and slowly step further back.

"Buffy..."

Buffy sat up, biting back a scream. Quickly pulling on some clothes, she heads to Angel's apartment. This time, she uses her spare key. 'Sleeping like the dead.'

She crawled in bed beside him, knowing innately he would keep the dreams away. Angel stirred, and opened one eye. "Buffy?"

"Dreams." That was all she said.

Angel just nodded, and wrapped his arms around her.

-----

"You said you loved her." Giles broke the silence in the library. "Were you there… when she died?"

"No. I was in South America. I'd made some mistakes, and we'd broken up." Riley made a few notes before continuing. "She wasn't alone, if that's what you meant. Spike was with her."

"It must have been quite a thrill for him."

"Actually, he says it was the most horrible thing he'd ever seen." Riley's voice carried little emotion. It was as if he'd shut off. "As far as I can tell, this is a three digit encryption. If I can break and, the, or for, we'll have this translated in a few minutes."

The clack of a woman's heels stopped in front of the library. "Rupert, go home. You're going to be a zombie tomorrow."

"We're working on a prophecy." Giles gave her a tired smile.

Jenny shook her head. "Meet me for coffee before class tomorrow?"

"Of course." Giles watched her go, and then noticed Riley's puzzled expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Who was that?"

Giles blood ran cold.

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	6. Everyone

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Angel leaves something in the library, and his otherself finds it. Spike starts writing poetry again.

__

We, we're standing strong  
'Cause of what you've done  
This one goes out to you, you, you  
You make us feel like we've just begun  
And this one goes out to you

****

Black and Blue: Everyone  
By Cobalite Ice
    
    Angel looked ragged the next morning. "Did I leave my coat here?"

Giles distractedly pointed towards the table. He'd spent all of last night with that Riley fellow trying to decipher the prophecy, and they still couldn't figure it out. The disturbing realization that Jenny Calendar was unknown to Riley, who claimed to have met Buffy less than two years from now, was terrifying. "More dreams?"

"All she'll say is she hurt me. Don't hit me when I say this, but she's awful distracting at night. I think I slept for five minutes tops."

"I can only imagine." Giles rubbed his eyes. "I'm supposed to meet Jenny for coffee. There's a college student, Riley, coming for these papers. Make sure he gets them?"

"Sure." Angel grabbed them, and sat down after grabbing a dream dictionary. He wondered if stabbing your boyfriend was in there. A few minutes later, a young man, presumably this Riley walked in.

Riley did a double take as he saw Angel sitting at the table. 'Wrong Angel.' It seemed so odd to see the broody man relaxed. "Is Giles around?"

Angel shoved the ream of paper in his general direction. "He left this for you. Are you the code breaker?" 

"I guess you could say that. This is a real difficult one, there's several key numbers." Riley stared at the numbers swimming on the page. "I need more sleep."

"So do I. It's my girl that prophecy's about. We're hoping it will help us end her dreams. They're really horrible."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah. She dreamt about killing me. It had her really upset last night." Angel noticed the subtle change in Riley's demeanor. "What?"

"Alcatha."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Angel barely had a chance to blink before Riley was on his feet and running for the door. "Hey, where are you going?"

He nearly ran Buffy over on his way out. She gave his retreating backside an annoyed look. "What was that about?"

"I wish I knew."

-----

"This is it." Spike pointed to where the door to the vault was hidden. "I'll just finished chipping away the concrete, and..."

"What's wrong?" Angel asked.

"Concrete. Were there many ancient Roman Native Americans?" Spike lit a cigarette, the realization a dark one.

"I doubt it. Why?"

"Because this vault is supposedly thousands of years old, and concrete didn't come into use in America until they built the Erie Canal. This was something recent."

They opened the door to an empty vault. Angel knelt in one corner. "Exactly what did the legend say?"

"The ring would be with what humanity built, but demon dwelt, in the Valley of the Sun. I guessed right that it was the sewers, this was the only chamber not on the plans." Spike looked to see what had Angel so interested. "Bloody Hell." A construction watermark.

"The Mayor must have had this place set up as a storage vault. This stuff must not be moved here until he gets elected to office." Angel slammed his fist in frustration. "Time to switch to plan two."

-----

"Angel." Jenny nearly jumped out of her skin. "Do you have to be so quiet?"

Angel didn't answer, just sat down across from her. "Tell me everything you know about my curse."

"What makes you think I know anything?" Jenny evaded.

"I know who you are, Jana. I know why you're here." 

Angel eyes were cold and empty, more like the monster he hunted than himself, and Jenny suddenly felt nervous. "How did you find out?"

"I take it Rupert hasn't told you yet." Angel muttered. "Listen, you're making me very uncomfortable, so I'm gonna leave, but you're going to go talk to your uncle, and figure out how to get rid of the rider on my curse."

"Rider?" Jenny asked, confused, to his retreating back. She found Rupert in the library. "How did you find out?"

"Find what out? We haven't cracked the code yet." He smiled, and pulled out a chair for her. "The young man I have working on it for me is working on it right now, driving his roommates insane."

'He doesn't know. Whatever Angel found out, he didn't tell Rupert.' Jenny mentally thanked him. "I ran into Angel. He's acting odd."

"That wasn't Angel then." Giles took of his glasses, and rubbed his temples. "Jenny, three years from now, just after her twentieth birthday, Buffy is going to die."

"That's horrible, but you said you hadn't deciphered the prophecy yet."

"The dreams Buffy are having are vision of a possible future. The man you met was quite likely the Angel from that time period. He and two other men have come back to prevent a chain of events that will eventually lead to Buffy dying before her time. Destiny came to them the night of her funeral, and asked them to change history."

Jenny looked at him as if he were insane, and then realized in light of the Hellmouth they were sitting on, it sounded perfectly logical. "Angel and who else? Did you get to meet your future self?"

"That's the same thought I'd had, but Angel's companions are.... rather unsuspected. A young man who is part of a military unit that hunts demons, Riley Finn, the one with me last night." Giles had to see the look on her face. "He also brought Spike."

"Spike, as in William the Bloody, the vampire Buffy dropped a church organ on?" 

"That would be him. Sometime in the next few months, he'll.... I don't think I can even say it." Giles held back his laughter. "Let us say he'll undergo a life altering change that will lead him into Buffy's service."

Jenny didn't bother holding back hers. "All joking aside, we have two vampires and a commando here to stop some cataclysmic event. Do you know what is it?"

"They won't tell me." Giles looked annoyed.

But as Jenny suddenly realized, she already knew. If the future Angel felt so uncomfortable around her, there could only be one reason. At some point in the future, his curse had broken, and even after it had been recast, he still didn't trust her. Especially if after three years she hadn't been able to fix it. "Rupert, there's something you should know."

-----

"Watcher."

Giles almost knocked over his chair. "Spike! What are you doing here?" He reached for a cross.

"Relax, Watcher, I'm not gonna hurt you. Got a birthday gift for the Slayer." Spike produced a pale blue envelope.

"What is it?"

"It's an arm in a box. What does it look like? It's a card. Just don't tell her where it came from." Spike threw the card onto the table. 

"They were telling the truth. You really are in love with her."

"Don't spread it around." Spike left, and Giles sat down. It hadn't been the best of weeks. Not at all.

-----

Buffy peered into the package Cordelia had given her, and looked wide-eyed at the other girl. "Cordelia!"

"What? Don't tell me you can't think of uses for some of that." The brunette was enjoying Buffy's embarrassment.

"What did she give you?" Willow asked the bright red slayer. Upon answer, she turned the color of her hair. 

There was a single card still sitting on the table, and Buffy opened it. "Who wrote this? Come on, I'm serious, who wrote this?" She passed it around the table. 

__

She is light, she is love,   
She is redemption, she is the sun,  
She is the only light in three skies  
All now denied her shine  
For the one with her heart,  
Was forced to flee   
To the city of angels   
Before the demon was freed  
  
For the one who picked up the pieces,  
Has left this shore,   
For the love in his heart  
Has brought only scorn  
  
And the one who stayed,   
He too is alone,   
For the light does not want him  
And darkness will not take him back 

Angel looked at it for a long moment before passing it to Oz, the newest addition to their group. Later, as everyone left for home, Angel stayed. "Giles, I need to talk to you."

"Is something wrong?"

"I know who wrote the poem." Angel started pacing. "I can't believe I hadn't noticed, but it makes sense why we haven't heard much from him lately. Giles, that's Spike's handwriting."

This was something the Watcher hadn't expected. "How could you know that?"

"He was a poet before Drusilla turned him. Something odd is going on. Take my coat. I left it here overnight, and odd things happened to it."

"Like what?" Giles saw a flash of the other Angel throwing his duster on the table next to the one of this time. They had been switched, and nothing good could come of it.

"For one thing, I don't own a Batman wallet." Angel drew it from his pocket, "And the money inside is all issued over the next few years."

"That is rather odd," Giles stalled, but Angel continued.

"There's also several pictures." Angel flipped open the wallet. "Cordelia Chase, and two men I don't know. My own handwriting on the back identifies them as Wesley and Gunn, and the caption reads 'The Hyperion Lives Again'. It's a hotel in Los Angeles where I spent part of 1959. Another one, featuring a man presumably named Doyle arguing with Cordelia, called 'History Repeating Itself'. One of myself and Buffy, at her Senior Prom, 'Wild Horses' scrawled on the back in her writing." Angel noticed Giles wasn't looking at him. "There's more, but I take it you already know how this happened."

"Yes, but do go on."

"A business card for Angel Investigations, with the address of the aforementioned hotel on it, my name as the PI. Moving on from the wallet to my pockets, my coat has decided it's time for me to start smoking again." Angel threw a pack of cigarettes and a lighter onto the table. "Haven't touched them in thirty years. Now tell me what's going on before I bring up the sketches of Darla and Drusilla."

"I can assure you that this isn't a ploy to make you doubt your sanity, it was a mistake." Giles was unsure how to continue. "This probably isn't the best time to tell you, but we've determined the source of Buffy's dreams."

"Don't get off subject, Giles."

"I'm not. The question I have to ask is, do you really want to know your own future?"

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	7. It's True

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Angel learns of his future self, gets his soul bound, and has a conversation with himself. 

__

Even a lover  
Makes a mistake sometimes  
Like any other  
Fall out and lose his mind  
And I'm sorry for the things I did  
For your teardrops over words I said  
Can you forgive me  
And open your heart once again, oh yeah

****
    
    Black and Blue: It's True  
    
    By Cobalite Ice
    Angel looked at the unfamiliar faces in his wallet. "If it means helping Buffy, and answering who the hell these people are."

Giles motioned for him to sit down. "You met Riley, correct?"

"Yeah. He rushed out of here when I mentioned Buffy's dreams."
    
    "They're not dreams. They're portents." Giles watched the shock wash over Angel, and he finally took a seat.

"You mean that at some time in the future, Buffy is actually going to have to kill me? Giles, that doesn't make any sense. She's also had dreams where I'm dying of some disease, about a little sister she doesn't have, and even one where I'm human."

"I have to admit, the part about you being human or her having a sister is news, but I can assure you the rest can, will, and have happened according to information I've been able to gather. I've met your future self, Angel. That's his duster, they must have been switched accidentally."

"You're kidding me."

"I assure you, I'm not joking. He and two others have come to stop an event we can only guess at that will lead to Buffy's death. Jenny Calendar and I have come to the most likely conclusion, and have begun work to prevent it, but it will take time."

"Two others? Do we know them?"

"One is Riley Finn, the man you met. The other is Spike."

Angel burst out laughing. "Spike and I working together, to prevent Buffy's death. That's about as ridiculous as...."

"As Spike writing her a love poem. People change."

"He's not a person."

"Regardless, for some reason the Powers find his presence necessary." 

"What do you think they're trying to stop?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid you'll do something stupid."

"Like what?"  
  
"Leave her."

"I would never leave her."

"You did, or rather will. Riley's presence here is testimony to that. I've been unable to determine exactly how hr plays into all this. He wasn't even in Sunnydale when she died, but..." Giles trailed off.

"But what?

"They had been in a relationship. Being in the military, he must have been transferred, which would explain why he'd been in South America. All he would tell me is they'd had trouble."

Angel's face didn't betray any emotion. "I always expected Buffy would want someone human. It's really no surprise."

"If it's any consolation, it didn't appear to be a happy relationship. While we were working, I could see the scars on his arms. He was either a junky, or frequented a vampire den."

Angel smirked. "You're right. That does make me feel better."

-----

Angel had a new hobby. Actually it was an old hobby, made easier by the fact that Buffy was now in his apartment every night. He watched her and some times, like tonight, he would draw her. In his coat, where he'd usually kept a pencil, he'd found a good quality charcoal. He'd have to thank his future self for the gift. It was obviously his, sharpened with a knife rather than a sharpener, a talent honed by a hundred years of practice. So he drew her, thinking she was the angel not him.

Her dreams disturbed him just as much as her. His presence only stopped the really horrid dreams, she was still having them, and these she wouldn't tell him about. All Angel had caught was fragments about peanut butter and ice cream. "Have you recovered from Valentine's Day yet?"

"If you ever mention it again, I'm going home right now. I'd rather have the nightmares than think about that!" Buffy had almost killed Xander, who was lucky the full moon hadn't been that week, or he'd be mulched.

"Don't you dare move. I'm almost done."

"Angel?" Buffy whispered. "What's your real name?"

"That one came out of left field." Angel muttered. "Why do you ask?"

"As much as I care about you, I realized I don't know that much about you." Buffy didn't move, she knew he was drawing. "I mean, Angelus wasn't your real name, it couldn't have been."

Her words cut him like a knife, knowing that sometime soon, they would no longer be together. "This coming from the girl named Buffy."

"My real name is Elizabeth. Your turn."

"Liam." Angel actually looked embarrassed. 

Buffy giggled. "Must have been a couple of fun decade when you were running with Spike."

"Ha ha." He finished to sketch. "You can look now." It was a picture of her sleeping.

-----

"You're kidding me."

"No, I'm not." Jenny knew how strange her solution sounded, but it was the only thing she could think of.

"If I ever told Cordy what you just told me, she'd think I was going insane again. It's incredible to believe the binding for my soul can be bought at a hardware store." Angel stared at the now bound orb on the table. 

"When do you and Cordelia become so close? Your otherself found pictures of her in your wallet." It had been bothering Giles for days.

"I saved her life, and she hung around. We didn't get close until after Doyle died." Realize how the Englishman might interpret that, he added, "We weren't romantically involved, it that's what you think. She reminds me of my little sister." He picked up the orb. "I never thought I'd say this, but duct tape really is going to hold the world together."

"It's blessed duct tape." Jenny was indignant. "Can you think of anything else that will hod for years, and can be wrapped around a sphere?"

-----

The waitress set down two cups of strong, black coffee, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world to have such gorgeous twin guys in her section. 

"You gotta admit, this is strange." Angel was sitting across from himself. "Why did you want to meet me?"

He looked at his otherself as one would critique a painting. "Yeah, it's strange, but it hasn't been that long since I've looked in a mirror."

"You haven't had a reflection in two and a half centuries. What should I call you? This is going to get confusing."

"I guess you can call me by our real name. It doesn't bother me as much anymore." Liam looked out the window of the coffee shop they were in. "As for the reflection thing, lets just say I had an encounter with a demon that didn't really agree with me. I asked you here to tell you some things."

"Like what?"

"First of all, Buffy loves you. More than you will ever realize until she's gone. It's not that your forbidden, because she'd love you just as much as a normal man."

"How do you know that?" Angel remembered Buffy telling him she'd dreamt he was human, but wouldn't tell him anymore.

"Someday you'll find out." Liam paused, wondering exactly how to say this. "When Buffy graduates, she'll be accepted to UCLA. I want you to encourage her to go, and follow her to Los Angeles."

"You were a PI." He pulled the wallet from his pocket, and handed it to the other man. "With Cordelia Chase at your side."

"She's not so bad, as long as you notice her hair. I won't tell you how she ended up working for me, it will spoil the fun." Liam stared at the pictures. "These people are very special to me. My friends, not Buffy's. People that hung around not out of obligation, but because they liked me. They get under your skin."

"The Irishman, Doyle, why isn't he in the hotel pictures?" 

"I can't tell you. It was very hard for me to understand why he did what he did, and you'll have to go through it yourself to really understand the people around you."

Angel wondered if Liam was talking about a betrayal of some kind. No, if that were the case, he would have been less cryptic. "What else?"

"Tell her you love her. Don't wait. She needs to know. Her love was what almost destroyed me, but it will save you." Liam didn't explain his last statement. "Tell her about China."

"No." Angel looked across the table. "You're insane. I am not going to ask her to carry that burden."

"She'll want to, eventually." Liam thought about a way to prove his point. "Has she asked you our real name yet?"

"Last night." Angel admitted. "But that doesn't mean she wants to know the details of our soared past." 

"Yes, it does. There's so much I want to tell you, but there isn't going to be time."

"We have forever."

Liam laughed. "Not anymore. You'll see, soon. As for me, I won't be around much longer. Our lives end when they do in the other timeline. All three of us, in the next year."

"I guess I'd better enjoy seeing myself while I still can." Gallows humor from the master.

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	8. Not For Me

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to cobalite@yahoo.com. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Buffy and Spike have a confrontation, and then Buffy makes a decision about her relationship with Angel.  


_Things will never be the same again with you  
No no, uh uh, (oh)  
Now I know what it's comin' to  
No no, Uh uh (yeah-heah)  
'Cause if you think  
That it's the way  
That love   
Should be  
Let me tell you it's not for me_  
  
_**Black and Blue: Not For Me**__  
By Cobalite Ice_

He was watching her, she could feel it. A burning point of light in the darkness. "I know you're there, Spike." No answer. "If you want a fight, I'll give you one."  
"I'm not here to fight you, Slayer." Near the end, he had almost always called her Buffy. Now, seeing this little girl with so much hate for him, he could bring himself to say her name.  
  
"You're not?" She asked, confused. "Why are you following me then?"  
  
"To prove to myself you're not her." It was good he was taking cryptic lessons from Angel.   
  
"Not who?" Buffy was getting annoyed. She saw the last ember of his cigarette die.   
  
"No the same Slayer I knew, in a different time and place. Not the girl who bled to death in my arms because some frat boy had too many drinks. Not the one who trusted me with her sister's life. Not the one that showed me another way. You're not her." His voice started to get further away. "You never will be, because we saved you from becoming her. I hope the Powers can forgive themselves when you stand at the End of Days."   
  
Buffy stood there, alone in the dark, stunned.  
-----  
Angel came back from meeting his otherself, a little shocked. It was one thing meeting a doppelganger when you knew what you looked like, but when you hadn't seen your reflection in over 200 years  
  
Buffy was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. "Hi." She was subdued to say the least.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"In my dreams, I've killed you, seen a new Slayer rise and fall, I've been fed from, and killed a giant snake. I've been left by three men, had a little sister, and fought a god." She looked at him. "Now they've stopped."  
  
"That's good, isn't it?"  
  
"They stopped because I died, Angel. Not in battle, but by accident. Meaningless, for nothing. The girl in those dreams, she's me, but not a me I'll ever be. I'd be proud if I was half as strong as she was when she died." She fingered a scar that wasn't there. "He's right."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Spike. Or at least it looked like Spike. He told me they had done something to keep me from walking down that road. In her reality, you were already Angelus by now." 

Angel recalled his otherself saying Spike had gone out. "What did he say?" She didn't answer. "Buffy, what did he say to you?"

"That I'm not her, and he hopes the powers forgive themselves for saving me at the End of Days. Who's she, Angel? When did Spike ever feel anything for a Slayer?"

"To my knowledge, in the past Spike has only ever loved Drusilla." It wasn't a lie, exactly.

"She died on the pavement, with Spike holding her. It was exactly what he described, it was creepy." Angel sat down, and Buffy wrapped herself around him. "He din't want to fight. It's like he knew what my dream was like."

"Buffy." Angel started to say something, when Buffy cut him off. When she finally remembered her need to breathe, he asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Sometimes I forget." She drew in a deep lungful of air. "Angel, I may admire that other me, but she had to go through... Maybe that Spike lookalike was wrong. Maybe just the memories of these things will give me the strength she had. Maybe I can stand as strong as she did."

"I know you can." He was reluctant to let her go, but knew with her dreams stopped, she'd probably want to sleep in her own bed. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

"I'm not going home." Buffy suddenly had a determined look in her eyes. 

"You aren't?" He asked, not sure he understood.

"Nope." She attacked, and Angel found himself flat on his back. He was suddenly very grateful they were on the same side.  
-----  
After talking with his otherself, he went on patrol. He could listen to anymore of Riley's mutterings in code and Spike yelling at the TV or he'd kill someone. Then he heard a voice he never wanted to hear again. "Daddy."

"Dru." Nope, he wasn't hallucinating. Damn. "I thought you left the country."

She pouted. "I didn't like India. The vegittarians tasted funny. The moon called me back, it said now there are two. Two Daddies, two Spikes. It sounds deliciouse." 

"That's nice, Dru." Angel looked for a quick get away. He never noticed her pull out the handgun. "So, what did you do with your Spike anyway."

"The moon says I can have my cake and eat it too." She pulled the trigger.  
-----  
'Three numbers. Lowest number possible, 1. Highest, 4' After days of staring, it finally clicked. "Spike, I've got it." The prophecy unfolded before his eyes. "3-1-4. It was so obviouse. I should have seen this days ago."

"What's it say?" Spike leaned over his shoulder, drinking blood from a mug, in game face.

"Can you not do that?" Riley shoved his laptop over in Spike's general direction.

Suddnely, in both their minds, a gunshot echoed. Spike looked at Riley. "You hear that?"

"Angel's in trouble." Riley grabbed his coat. "Who would shot him?"

"Who else? My lovely sire. Where do you think you're going alone? You have no clue where they'll be."

"We're gonna need help, and I doubt she'll let you in the door."  
-----  
She lay beside him, perfectly content. He, however, looked guilty. "I hope it doesn't scar."

"I hope it does." Buffy turned into his embrace, and enjoyed his shock. "It's like having your name tatooted on me. Only, it means something in our bussiness, didn't take as long, and was a lot more pleasant to get." She gave him a wicked smile.

Angel laughed. "Okay." The sun was preparing to rise, and it made him sleepy. He realized he still hadn't done done as his otherself asked. "Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Buffy, for a brief moment, remembered her dreams. Then, she realized fearing the other future only gave it power over her. She rested her head on his chest. "I love you too." Nowhere in her dreams had she ever woken up beside him. She was determined to remedy that right now.

About fifteen minutes later, there was a frantic knocking on their door. Buffy wasn't going to get her wish.


	9. Shining Star NC-17 Interlude

This story takes place after Buffy'

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1] or for this chapter [sailortwilight@hotmail.com][2]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Takes place during Chapter Five, Not For Me. Shining Star is the long awaited Buffy/Angel interlude that takes place after she tells him she's not going home. Written by my friend Sailor Twilight, who apologizes for making you wait so long.

_You're (You know that I adore you) my shining star  
(Wanna be there everyday for you)  
That is what you are  
(Satisfy your every needs my baby)  
There is no one like you baby (baby)  
Angels (You know that I adore you) everywhere  
(Wanna be there everyday for you)  
Every time you're near  
(Satisfy your every needs my baby, baby)  
You will always be my baby, baby  
  
__**Black and Blue: Shining Star**__  
By Sailor Twilight_

Buffy had him exactly where she wanted him, and she wasn't going to let him go. She leapt toward him, and before Angel knew it he was on the bed, pinned beneath her warm body.  
  
He opened his mouth as her lips met his, inviting her in. She thrust her tongue passionately into his mouth, and he eagerly returned her kiss.  
  
Buffy's slender, skillful hands slid along his muscular arms and onto his chest. She quickly began to undo each button, Angel groaning in her mouth as she lifted him off the bed briefly to remove his shirt. He pulled away from her kiss gently. "And here I thought you were a virgin," he gasped, her kiss as always leaving him breathless.  
  
"I am," she said, husky from their kiss. "But not for much longer." She kissed him again, even with more passion. There was so many unknown years of pain and longing behind that kiss, that she felt as if her heart would burst. She brushed that feeling aside and drew her attention to removing his pants. She had button undone in seconds, but to Angel her teasing seemed like centuries.   
  
She reluctantly pulled away from their passionate kiss, and began to kiss down his neck, his cool skin quickly heating up under the soft caress of her lips.  
  
She kissed down his muscular, chiseled chest, and slid down until she was down on her knees, sitting on the floor in front of him. She began to slowly unzip his pants, her beautiful green eyes gazing lustfully up at her lover.   
  
He groaned, wanting her to go further, but he had to do something first. He tenderly reached down and cupped her face in his hands, and lifted her up to meet him for another deep kiss. He pulled away, and spoke in a lust-filled whisper, "I have waited so long to touch you."  
  
She only nodded, her emerald eyes filled with understanding. She quickly kissed him, and allowed him to explore her body. He eased her up into his lap, moaning as she rubbed gently against his throbbing member in the process. He slid his hands down her body, hooking his long fingers under her black sweater. He then pulled it over her head in one swift motion and it landed softly in a heap in some other corner of the room. His hands unconsciously roamed straight to her soft, round breasts that were hidden only by her black bra. With a faint clicking sound, that too landed in the shadows of the room somewhere.   
  
Angel bent down to kiss her tenderly on the lips, his hands kneading her breasts and his fingers running circles around her quickly hardening nipples. She moaned, and her moaning grew even louder and Angel began to kiss down her neck and to her chest. He let his mouth linger on her nipples, gently sucking and licking her pink tips and then continuing his journey further down her smooth body, relishing her hot skin and fighting the undeniable urge to pierce it with his fangs. He could hear the blood pounding in each vein and artery as he began to remove her tight jeans and after that her silky black panties. She moaned as he breathed on her most sensitive of areas, and gasped as he brought his hand down to gently to stoke the blond patch of curls that shielded her warm opening. Angel fought back his game face when he spotted her femoral artery, and instead turned his attention to her moistening womanhood. He gently connected his mouth against her soft, quivering flesh and let his tongue begin to explore her pussy. She trembled and let loose a low, longing sound from deep within her soul.   
  
Angel brought his mouth up to her swollen, red clit and began to gently suck upon it as one of his fingers pushed its way into her body. She shuddered, closing her eyes and allowing the pleasure to crash over her in waves of pleasure. He slid in another finger, and another, and soon she was rocking her entire body in a steady rhythm against his hand, moaning constantly.   
  
Angel let loose a cry of his own when he suddenly became aware of his own pounding groin. He took his fingers out of her, bringing them up to his lips to lick away her sweetness. He found himself wondering if her blood was just as sweet, but he quickly brushed away that thought.   
  
Buffy pulled him up into a deep, passionate kiss. She could taste her sweet juices that lingered on his tongue, and this only turned her on even more.   
  
She suddenly felt something poking her, and pulled away from their kiss. Buffy looked down and saw the tent in Angel's pants and smiled. She began to kiss down his neck and then to his chest, pushing him into a sitting position on the end of the bed. She quickly unzipped his pants, surprised that his huge manhood hadn't done that already. A few moments later, his black silk boxers landed in a heap on the floor.   
  
She had to stop and gaze at his beauty for a moment. His entire body was perfect, as she had always imagined it. She brought her hand down to touch him, to feel his throbbing shaft. He moaned as her fingers brushed against his needy member, and she closed her hand around his hot, smooth skin and began to slowly pump him in her hand. He gasped, and began to slowly buck in her hand as she brought him closer to the edge. When the warmth of her hand suddenly vanished, he groaned in disappointment. Suddenly he felt a warm, wet, flickering muscle touch his extremely sensitive, engorged head. He moaned as Buffy took his throbbing member into her mouth and practically down her throat. He fought the urge to buck wildly and finish in her mouth, he wanted this to last forever.   
  
Finally, Buffy pulled her head away from his erection and looked up at him, licking the pre-cum off her lips. Angel couldn't control himself any longer. He pulled her up into another kiss, almost too rough. He tenderly rolled her onto her back, and positioned himself. Her eyes filled with so much passion and love for him told him that she was more than ready.   
  
Buffy had never felt this way before, and when he moved her against the soft sheets and pressed his body against hers, she had no fear of the heavy thrust of his erection. His manhood throbbed with the needs she was arousing in him, and when he nudged her legs apart she guided him to her waiting source.   
  
Slowly, gently, Angel entered her. Both of them could only see bright flashes of light for a few moments, as bright as the sun. Suddenly they were back in the dark room, and Angel began to thrust in and out of her, quickly gaining speed and finding the same rhythm that his fingers had discovered earlier. As the pace of his movements quickened, and the pulsing strength of his cock throbbed inside her, feelings that were totally new to her began to spread to every part of her body.  
  
She clutched his shoulders and wrapped her legs around him, as if she would never let him go.   
  
Angel could bear it no longer. As he pounded into her, all of his passions took hold of him.  
  
He suddenly felt as if he was in game face, but something was different. It was almost as if only his fangs came out. He heard the blood rushing through her body, and his eyes focused in on her jugular. Buffy, sensing his need, tangled her long fingers into his dark hair and brought his face down into her neck. "Do it, Angel." She said, breathlessly.  
  
He obeyed, digging his sharp fangs as tenderly as he could into the soft flesh of her neck, piercing her jugular. A split-second later, blood flowed into his mouth, along his tongue, and down his throat. He sucked hungrily, and noticed how Buffy began to moan louder, obviously enjoying this as much as he was. Her blood was so sweet, so satisfying, and he gave one last, long suck and then he shuddered in her arms and finished. She could feel his cold, thick liquid pour into her body as he bit her throat, and suddenly her body convulsed into one sensation, and she screamed as an orgasm ripped through her entire being. She could feel him licking the puncture wound, and could feel the tissue around it begin to close.   
  
She felt his warm arms surround her, and their lips met again. Buffy could taste something warm, metallic, and yet sweet in Angel's mouth. It was her own blood.  
  
Angel rested his head into her soft pillows, and she snuggled up against his chest. She closed her eyes, and listened.   
  
She could have sworn she could hear Angel's heart beat.

   [1]: mailto:cobalite@yahoo.com
   [2]: mailto:sailortwilight@hotmail.com



	10. 

Black and Blue

I am so sorry about the delay. Sailor Twillight, who was complained who long it was between chapters? It's her fault. She was supposed to write an interlude. This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [][1]cobalite@yahoo.com. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Dru's plan is revealed, Spike and Buffy chat while Riley and Angel have it out.

_Oh I will love you more than that  
I won't say the words  
Then take them back  
Don't give loneliness a chance  
Baby listen to me when I say  
I will love you more than that_

**_Black and Blue: More Than That_**_  
By Cobalite Ice_

"Can I help you?" The boy at the door seemed vaugly familiar, but she couldn't place him.

Riley took in her appearance. A man's shirt with a black robe thrown over it. It really did hurt just to look at her. "I need to talk to Angel."

"No!"

"No?" Riley's voice got a little high. "It's an emergency."

"I don't care. Unless the world is on the brink of destruction, I'm not waking him up."

"The world is on the brink of destruction."

Buffy sighed. "I guess you can't change some things."

"Tell him it's Riley."

Buffy slipped back into the bedroom. She hated to wake him, she'd never seen him look so peaceful, so happy. "Angel, there's someone named Riley here to see you."

Angel's eyes drifted open. He hadn't really heard her, just reacted to her presence. So Angel did what came naturally. He kissed her. For a minute, Buffy forgot what she came in for. "What did you say?"

Buffy's brain was a muddled mess. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed with him. "I can't remember."

Riley cleared his throat from the doorway. "Angel, I hate to bother you..."

"Oh yeah. Someone's here to see you." Buffy turned red. 

"Why are you here?" Angel looked equally embarrassed. 

"You've been kidnapped."

"He'd been what?" Buffy laughed, but then she noticed Angel hadn't joined in. "Angel?"

"Who took him?"

"Dru. She must have had a vision. She knows we're here, she must."

"I've seen you somewhere before." Then Buffy thought of memories not her own. "We've fought together."

Riley seemed surprised. "Not yet, but eventually."

"A time traveler. Sent back to prevent my death. You, Spike, and Angel. How close am I?"

Deja vu. "Dead on. I have good news, bad news, and worse news."

"Good news first." Buffy didn't know if she could take much more.

"We've translated the prophecy. The bad news is, if we die any other way than how it happened in the original time line, everything we've done is erased."

"That means Jenny would be dead, and you'd be evil." Buffy latched onto Angel. She couldn't lose him now.

"What could be worse?" Angel was afraid to ask. 

"We don't think killing Angel is what she had in mind."  
-----  
"Dru, let me down." Liam hung chained to the wall.

"No." She sat quietly, brushing Miss Edith's hair. "I can't hurt you like I want to, Daddy, because the moon says things will get just terrible and everything will happen as foretold." She set her doll down, and ran her nails along his cheek. "We won't let that happen. To protect you, the Powers gave you life without reality. I can punish the other, and bring my Daddy back through you."

"Everytime we meet, it's the same thing. Kill me, steal my soul. Get a new song, Dru. My soul is bound, as is his."

"From happiness." She smiled again. "Soon, very soon, the caster will arrive, after she shops for her spell. What's an barbiturate?"

If it was just magic, he could have some hope of resisting. If it was just a drug, he might have been able to fight it off, but if whatever caster she'd hired knew to combine them... He had to keep her talking. "Where's Spike?"

"The bookish man took him to Nepal to see an old friend. I'll be back before he notices I'm gone." Dru smiled. "He still loves me, not like the other Spike. We'll keep the nasty slayer away from him this time."  
-----  
"No, I refuse to hunt with him." Buffy shot down Angel's suggestion. "He tried to kill me a few months ago."

"It was years ago for me, luv. Besides, with this chip, I can't harm anything human."

"Buffy, please. We have to start looking now, or sunrise will keep us in the sewers." Angel gave Buffy that meting look that always turned her protests into butter.

"For you." She conceded. "Alright, Fangless Wonder, lets go."

"You really hate me, don't you?" It had been a long time since taunting the Slayer had been this much fun.

"Yes, that's why I can't understand her."

"Slayer, what Buffy went through changed her. Maybe that's why they've sent you the dreams. To change you into her without making you go through all she did, to keep what happened from happening."

"Do you really think the Powers will regret saving me like this? Do you think they should have just arranged it so I didn't get hit?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You're not the only one who dreams, Slayer. I don't know about Riley, but Angel's been dreaming about our future in the other time line too."

"What happened that made you change your mind?"

"I made a fool of myself, and a god beat the crap out of me. And your mother.Slayer, you make sure Joyce takes care of herself."

"Okay." Buffy didn't know what he was talking about. Most of her memories related directly to the three men who had come to save her."

The factory was abandoned. "Where else would she go?"

"I'm thinking."  
-----  
"I don't like you." 

Riley wondered in how many realities those words had been said by this vampire regarding him. "It's unanimous then. I don't like you, or him either. He and I were shoved into this to save Buffy, which I'm all for. But the Powers that Fuck Around are making me arrange it so **you** end up with the only woman I've ever loved. So tell me, almighty Angel, why the hell did I ever think bringing you along was a good idea?"

Angel stopped walking. "Because if he's still me, and Destiny came to the three of you that night and said Arrange things so she and Riley have happily ever after' we would have done it. Because all we want is for Buffy to be happy. I may not like you, but I respect you. If you'd sent me with Spike, he'd be dust in the wind. If I'd gone with Buffy, not much searching would have gotten done. Is that a good enough answer?"

"It'll do." They were standing in front of a partially demolished building. "Where the hell are we?" 

"It used to be a church."  
-----  
Dru stared out the window. "She's early!" She unlocked the door, and let the robed woman in. "Promptness is a good thing in a sorceress."

"Thanks, I think." The woman had a typical response to Dru's strangeness. Liam took a moment to not her appearance. She wore gray robes indicating she held no allegiance to either dark or light. Like a Japanese ronin, she was a sorceress without a master, a soldier of fortune. Unfortunately, her hood hid her eyes. Seeing her expression would have given him some indication of her personality. 

Dru wandered out, and the caster began her work. "Why are you doing this?"

"It's work." 

"Do you really need the money that badly?" She'd driven up in a new car, she couldn't be that hard up for cash.

"It's not money I'm after. My price is something only the desperate will pay."

"What is your price?"

"That's not for you to know." She shook of her robes, reveling her face.

Liam swallowed hard. "What's your name?"

"Cynthia." She was feline in form, with yellow eyes. 

"That's a human name."

"Yes, it is." She dissolved a few pills in some alcohol.

"How did this happen to you?"

"I was betrayed." She took in his chains. "As were you, I take it."

"Not betrayed. Just stupid. How did this happen to you." She didn't answer him. "You don't realize what will happen if you do what Dru's asked you to do."

She slit his wrist, and let it drain into the goblet with the pills. "You're just one demon. How much trouble can you cause?" 

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	11. 

This story takes place after Buffy'

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [][1]cobalite@yahoo.com. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. We learn Cythia's story, and the prophecy is reveled.

_I know sometimes you feel  
Like you don't fit in  
And this world doesn't know  
What you have within  
When I look at you  
I see something rare  
A rose can grow anywhere  
And there is no one I know that can compare_

**_Black and Blue: What Makes You Different?_**_  
By Cobalite Ice_

"More trouble than you can imagine. Whatever Dru's giving you, could I double it?"

"I doubt it, and I couldn't use double anyway. What I need, I only need one." She smiled, showing her fangs. "For a man essentially about to die, you seem pretty calm."

"I don't think you'll really do it. You seem the type of woman who has some sense."

"I'm not a woman anymore than you are a man." She stroked her fun-y muzzle. "You wish to know how this happened?"

"Yes." Liarn stalled for time.

"My brother and I worked as a team. Our master was a woman named Andrea. She treated us as her own children. One day, she hired us out to a law firm. They wanted us spy on suspected murderer for them. We took the Master's cat and a Draken lizard, and cast a Seeing Eye spell. The cat because we always used the cat and no one notices a stray in a park, and the Draken because it's small, and can turn invisible. They sabotaged it. Their client was one of our enemies. They decided the only way to take out a grand master was to hurt her emotionally. The spell was intended to burden our life-force with an animal soul, draining our magic. But when the dust settled, I was part feline, Chandler was part lizard."

Liam remebered the man who'd pretended to steal his soul. A man with blue skin and yellow eyes. Just like a Draken lizard. "Your brother, I think we've met."

"You've seen Chandler?" She stopped her work and came towards him. "Is he well? Did he look alright? It's been years since I've seen him."

"He was working for the other side, I never saw his face. They hired him to do this, he refused." Liam gauged her reaction. "What's your price, Cynthia?"

"To free myself, I must take nine human souls. Poetic, isn't it When I take yours, I'll have my quota."

"He's mad. You'll unleash a monster bent on world destruction."

"My client has requested a lethe spell be cast upon you after your soul has been removed. Selective amnesia. He'll know what year it is and what cars are, but not know how he knows. He'll never know the suffering that drove him mad."

"Cynthia, please, don't do this."

"I have to. I can't live like this anymore."  
-----  
"What now?" Buffy whispered. She and Spike had made it to the church without killing each other, and reunited with Angel and Riley, who had also refrained from bloodshed.

"We have to find out what's going on in there." Riley peered in the window. "Angel's chained to the wall, and there's ... there's a giant cat guarding him."

"You're kidding." Spike took a look, and burst out laughing. "It's a bloody cat demon."

Buffy let out a giggle, then looked somber. "This is gonna get confusing. How do we tell the two of you apart?"

"When we met earlier, he said to call him Liam." Angel ignored Buffy's annoyed look.

"You knew about this and didn't tell me?"

"I tried, and you jumped me!"

"I keep forgetting she's only 17 now." Riley whispered. "She's so..."

"Annoying? It was Alcatha that changed her, mate. That's when I started falling for her." Spike watched them bicker for a second. "We are trying to sneak up on a psychic vampire and an unknown wearing high level caster robes."

They looked embarrassed. "Sorry. What the hell is going on in there?"  
-----  
_There shall be three chosen, and their final sacrifice will prevent the light's defeat at Armageddon._

_The first shall, his greatest fear realized, become what he has most reviled_ _The second shall greet the morning light._

_The third's life shall be ended by a love unrealized_

_Should any other fate befall the three, things shall revert to what was._

"Could it be any more cryptic?" Buffy asked, dismayed.

"At least we know the second one doesn't refer to me." Riley tried, and failed to break the tension.

Angel sighed. "We can assume that one refers to the other me. He won't want to stick around after this is over. it would be to difficult."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Because you're everything to me, to him. When we talked, he told me how much it hurt him to leave you. To see you with another man, even one that looked like himself, would just kill him."

They drifted into one of those patent Buffy/Angel moments no one dared interrupt. Except for Riley and Spike, who found it both sickening and disturbing. Riley cleared his throat for the second time that day. "So know we know what Fate's plan is. What's ours?"  
-----  
"Please don't do this." Liam was reduced to begging.

"We've been through this, twice. I am not staying like this for another year!" She grabbed his head, and forced open his jaw. She poured the liquid from earlier down his throat.

"Please tell me that wasn't Doximal."

"Among other things. I decided Bliss alone wouldn't be affective. I also included a dose of MDMA."

Liam was embarrassed. "I don't know what that is."

"Two years in LA and you don't know the club drugs. " She laughed. "It's Ecstasy. Surely you know that one."

Liam started to pray. Not to the god of his childhood who didn't listen to creatures like him, but the nameless powers that held his fate in their hands.  
-----  
Spike dropped down from peeping in the window. "She's gone and drugged the bloke."

"What's that gonna do? So we'll carry him out." Buffy wondered what the big deal was.

"She gave him X, Slayer. Bound soul or not, we're gonna end up with Angelus on our hands."  
-----  
He could feel the drug working it's way through his system. He could hear the demon yanking on his chains, whispering how easy it would be to let go.

"I'm sorry about how much this upsets you." Cynthia was watching him carefully. "Usually, this spell kills a human. If you want, I'll do the same for you."

"And violate your contract? What would Wolfram and Heart say if they could see their creation now?"

"You shut up." She smacked him. "You have no idea what they did to us. Chandler and I were lucky to escape with our lives."

"And I was lucky to escape with my soul, which you seem all to eager to take away from me." Liam was angry now. How dare she?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. Will you accept my offer?"

"Yes. A stake to the heart, or severing of the head. What ever you do, make it quick."

"I like you, I really do, and I'm sorry about this. But I was sixteen when we were changed. I lost my youth to this spell, and my power. I was a white caster, dammit! I was supposed to be the next grand master. The accident corrupted my essence. I'll never be able to do high level magics like we did together back in New York. Cynthia and Chandler died that night, at least to our friends and family. I want my purpose back. Can you understand that?"

"Yes." Liam closed his eyes. "I lost my purpose in a car crash a few weeks ago. And I'd do anything to save her. Even die." His irony was lost on his captor.

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	12. I Promise You

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. In the end, prophecy always gets it's way. 

__

It's in the silences  
The words you never say  
I see it in your eyes   
Always starts the same way  
It seems like everyone we know  
Is breakin' up  
Hmmm, does anybody ever stay in love...anymore?

****

Black and Blue: I Promise You  
By Cobalite Ice

She danced in the moonlight, but her friend was silent. So, Drusilla talked to the stars. "Then we'll live happily ever after. So happy, just like before." She listened for a moment, and clapped her hands together. "Really? Two years from now? Oh, that's wonderful. Fedex from hell! They never taught us that at the convent." Suddenly, the moon spoke. "No! No, no, no, no!"  
-----  
They were back outside the abandoned church. Buffy watched through the window. "They're talking. I mean, having an actual conversation. What the hell could they be talking about?"

Riley looked over her shoulder. "They're talking about New York. I guess she's from there. Oh, fuck."
    
    "What?" Angel asked.

"She's gonna kill him afterwards. We have to stop this, **now**."

Buffy picked up her crossbow. "Let's find a way to skin the cat."  
-----  
"The drugs aren't working." Cynthia sighed. "It would have been less painful if they had. Looks like I'll have to resort to magic."

Liam noticed the binding circle he'd been standing in. "Is this going to take long?"

"It'll have to wait until morning. The moon has passed it's zenith. I think I need an aspirin." Cynthia rubbed where a human's temples would have been. She grabbed a bag of powder. "We'll continue this-"

The door flew open. "Drop it, Cat woman."

Liam groaned at the bad joke. "So nice of you to finally show up."

"I won't let you stop me." Cynthia was almost shaking with rage. She uttered a phrase in Latin. *Nothing living, nor with a soul may pass.* "As I was saying, we'll continue this tomorrow." She calmly walked away, leaving Buffy, Riley, and Angel locked inside. 

Buffy banged on the barrier in frustration. "Now I know what being uninvited feels like."

"I can get in." Spike spoke quietly.

"How?" Buffy asked. "Look at this thing." She pounded on the barrier again.

"Nothing living or with a soul." Angel muttered. "He's neither."

Spike placed a hand against the wall. It gave resistance, but he'd be able to pass through. He hoped. "Spike, how are you going to get him out?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it?" He pushed forward. It felt like touching a live wire. "High voltage." Then he was passing through, and a sharp pain cut through his skull. He screamed in agony, and fell to his knees.

Riley could suddenly hear Walsh's voice. 'When you finally find Hostile 17, don't use more than one tazer shot. There's a defect in the chip. A continual electrical charge activated the self-destruct. Only partially though. It can take months for the radiation poisoning to kill a vampire.' "And I repeat, Oh fuck."

Buffy ran to where they had Liam chained. "Are you alright?" 

"I've been repeatedly drugged, and chained to the wall for hours. What do you think?" Liam stared at Spike. "Are you alright is the real question."

"I'm fine." He struggled to stand, and pushed Buffy away from him. He started picking the shackles. "Usually, it was you unchaining me. This is new."

A door opened, and shut. Drusilla stood before them, her face a mask of rage. "I won't let you take him." She pulled the gun she'd used on Liam just hours ago. "It's all your fault, Slayer. You can't have them. **YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM BOTH!**"

Spike's injury, and his work Liam's bindings kept him from moving quick enough. Angel was too far away. Only Riley saw her aim at Buffy, and pull the trigger. It only took a second, but to Buffy, that second took an eternity. No time to dodge, she was sure she was going to die. 'Goodbye, Angel.' Then she was knocked backwards, and Riley's heavy form collapsed on top of her. Angel and Spike were restraining Dru in the next second, keeping her from firing another shot. 

"Riley?" Her voice was hesitant. She touched his shoulder, and felt blood. "Oh, god." She rolled him off of her, and onto his back. A neat whole was centered above the heart. A severed aorta.

His eyes were glazed, but he was smiling at her. He weakly brushed the hair away from her face. "I love you."

She didn't know what to say. He obviously thought she was the other Buffy. Should she lie to a dying man? He saved her from the dilemma. "You'll never say it." Then his eyes focused. "You have to… to tell Spike. Tell him, the shock's deactivated the chip. Put it into self-destruct. He has six months, maybe less."

"Okay." She took his hand, and held it tightly. She could hear his heartbeat slowing.
    
    "The third's life shall be ended by a love unrealized." His breathing began to get shallow. "I never got a chance to kiss you goodbye."

She knew he knew he was dying. She placed a soft kiss on his lips. Buffy felt Angel, Liam, and Spike kneel beside her. Riley drew in another shaky breath. "It's been interesting, hasn't it, Spike?"

"Yeah, mate, it has."

Liam knew this may be their last chance to make peace. "Riley, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Hating you for so long."

"It's okay." Riley looked at Buffy, then past her. Then he smiled, closed his eyes, and exhaled his last breath. 

Buffy started sobbing. She hadn't really known him, but her otherself's memories of him would always be with her. Angel put an arm around her, and pulled her close. Liam and Spike helped each other to stand. 

Buffy looked at them. "Riley said-"
    
    "I know, I know." Spike sighed. "The first shall, his greatest fear realized, become what he has most reviled."

"Your greatest fear?" Buffy asked. "Your greatest fear is dying of radiation poisoning?"

"No. I wouldn't have done it for anyone but you, Slayer. See, my greatest fear was becoming like my sire." He gave Liam a hateful look offset by a smile.

Suddenly, Liam jerked from his grasp, and collapsed back to the ground. There was a brilliant flash of light, and Destiny stood over him. "You have come to the end, Warrior. Live these last months as a man." Both Spike and Angel could hear another heartbeat in the room. Destiny spoke. "The second shall greet the morning light."

Outside a new day dawned, and Destiny disappeared. A tall, blond woman stepped out of the side room. She saw both Angels still alive, and saw the body inside her casting circle. Her eyes went wide. "I… I never meant to…" She'd never taken an innocent's soul.

"Cynthia." Liam didn't seem surprised, as they once again pulled him to his feet. "I thought you couldn't do the spell until tomorrow night. Why come back now?"

"I decided I couldn't go through with it. I like you. No one else has ever looked past the fur and fangs. No one has ever asked me about home, or where I was planning on going to college. I came to let you go." She ran her fingers (Oh, to have fingers again) though long blond hair. She looked to where Drusilla hung in Liam's chains. "I'll take care of this. You should all leave." 

Buffy was about to what to do with Riley's body, but then she saw it was starting to fade away. "Let's go home."

Cynthia walked over to where Dru was chained. "I've decided."

"Just as I told you." Dru's eyes squeezed shut. "What choice did you make?"

"I choose gray." She pushed the stake forward.  
-----  
They were leaving. Buffy had assumed they would go, but now she was curious. "Where will you go?"

Liam smiled at her. "Home."

Spike smacked him across the back of the head. "Don't be so damn cryptic. He's going to Galaway. That's where we were heading a century ago when Angelus got a little side tracked."

Liam shook Angel's hand. "Remember what I told you. No secrets from her. It will only cause more problems."

"Are you going to give me any hints to keep from messing up as badly as you did?"

Liam thought for a moment. Before he'd changed, he had already smelled the sickness brewing that would send Buffy to the hospital, and Der Kindstod. Their intervention would prevent Alcatha. He couldn't tell himself anything useful. Except maybe this. "Just one. Darla is in the box."

"What?"

"Darla is in the box. Just, keep that in mind. It's gonna be a while." Liam turned to Buffy. "You take good care of him. He needs a lot of reminders about how much you care, and the fact that he isn't just a demon." 
    
    "I'll do my best." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "The two of you went through hell, didn't you?"
    "Yeah." Liam remembered his otherself talking about her dreams. "Do you know? About Thanksgiving, I mean?"
    She nodded. "I'll make sure he knows how to kill the Morah. I wouldn't want anyone to bear that burden."
    "Goodbye."
    "Goodbye." She turned to Spike. "You, I still can't believe."
    "Believe it, Luv." Then he grabbed her, and kissed her.
    She smacked him, and heard Angel growl behind her. "Never ever touch me again."
    "Never gonna have the chance." He shut the trunk on his otherself's De Soto. He'd left it here when he left for India, and Spike didn't think he'd mind. "Let's roll, Peaches."
    They got into the car, and left. It would be the last time Buffy, Angel, or anyone else in Sunnydale would see them. 

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



	13. Time

Black and Blue

This story takes place after Buffy's twentieth birthday, but before Crush. Feedback can be sent to [cobalite@yahoo.com][1]. No flames please, they give my deleted messages folder indigestion. I own nothing. Please don't sue, all you'll get is my CD collection. Buffy Summers is dead. You can't fight the course of Fate.

__

Time, look where we are  
And what we've been through  
Time, sharing our dreams  
Sharing every little bit of our dreams to you  
Time, It goes on and on everyday, baby  
Time is what it is, come what may

****Black and Blue: Time  
By Cobalite Ice

Buffy stood over the hospital bed, and brushed Faith's hair away from her face. "I'm so sorry we couldn't save you. You…did so much better this time around. You were only working for him to help us. It wasn't supposed to end up this way. You weren't supposed to end up like this again. Not knowing what I know."

A hand touched her shoulder. "How bad off is she?"

Buffy relaxed into Angel's arms. "The doctors say she may never wake up. Angel, you know what this means."

"Buffy, no. Please."

"I can't, Angel. It was different when Faith was going to be here, but I can't leave them now. I can't go to LA with you."

"I promised Liam. I promised I would bring you with me."  
  
Buffy lead him out of the hospital. "This isn't over. It will never be over between us. I'm getting my license, I'll come and see you when ever I can."

"What am I going to do with that huge office building?" Angel knew she was right, but the idea of living with her had been his number one reason for surviving the latest apocalypse. 

Buffy thought of the flashes she'd seen of Cordelia. "Don't worry. I can guarantee you won't be alone."   
-----  
"Introduction to Psychology. Oh, up there." Willow pointed to three of four books stacked on the edge at the top of a bookshelf.

"I'll get'em. You know, this store discriminates against short people." 

"Oh, I think there's a protest next week."

Buffy reached up and accidentally knocks the books off. "Woah." They fall on the head of a young man crouched underneath. He staggers back but recovers. "Oh, ahh. Oh god, I'm so sorry."

He stands up, and Buffy goes as stiff as a board. "I'm okay. It's okay. Well, that was bracing."

Willow noticed Buffy reaction. "Buffy, are you okay?"

"You're Riley Finn." Buffy's face was a blank mask.

"Yeah." Riley bent down and picked up some books. "Let's put a few of these down here." He puts them on a lower shelf. "So, uh, are you girls taking Intro Psych, or do you just want me dead?"

"Wait a second." Willow grabbed Buffy's arm. "This is Riley?"

"Am I famous or something?" Riley wondered why that girl seemed so shocked to see him, and knew his name. 

"My name is Buffy Summers. This is Willow Rosenburg. She's going to buy my books while we talk." The Slayer was in full force.

"Wow. I have to say, girls in Iowa are never this forward."

"I'm not hitting on you. This is a confrontation. I know who you are, and what you people are doing under Lowell house. Now, do you want me to interrogate you in the middle of this library, or go somewhere private?"

"Private." A few minutes later, they were in her dorm room. "I don't see why we couldn't go to my room. It's more secure."

"You're room is bugged."

"How do you know all this? Are you from Internal Investigations?" All the II agents Riley had met were very military men in their late fifties.

"I'm the Slayer, this is my town. What you and the Initiative are doing is destabilizing the balance of power here. This is a Hellmouth, you cannot go dissecting demons and not expect retribution."

"I don't care if you're the President of the United States. No one could know all that from just listening to the Hostiles."

"I didn't listen to the Hostiles. I listened to you." Buffy watched his disbelief with joy. She'd been planning this for two whole years. To make Riley Finn so uncomfortable that he'd never love her, and he'd never suffer. "A little over a year from now, I will be killed in an automobile accident. You, and two other men were sent back to save me."  
-----  
"Why do you think Riley did it?" Buffy and Spike walked down Main Street, towards the cemeteries.  
  
"Cause he made the same mistake way too many of your male friends do. He was in love with you, Slayer."  
  
"I tried to stop it. I never acted like I had any romantic interest in him. I thought maybe he wouldn't end up in some vampire whore house if I could stop him from loving me."  
  
"So you don't love him. You can't love anyone but Angel. Hell, Riley's just a kid, he probably doesn't even know what real love is."  
  
"I'm younger than he is. Do you think I don't know what love is?"   
  
Spike realized he'd just demeaned her entire relationship with Angel. "You're an old soul, Slayer. For you to have made it to twenty is proof of just how tied you are to this world."  
  
"You think he doesn't really love me?" She actually looked comforted by the thought.  
  
"I don't think someone like him could really love someone like you. You told me how badly things turned out when you were together."  
  
They come to an intersection, and Spike pauses to light a cigarette. Buffy waits for him. "Yeah, but if it weren't for the Initiative, I would never have had the Big Bad as my friend."   
  
Suddenly, the squeal of breaks filled the air. Buffy watched as a drunk driver barreled through the intersection. "Oh my god. If I hadn't stopped…"  
  
"You would have been killed." Spike looked at the cigarette in his hands. "This is the night. They stopped it, three years before it ever happened."  
  
"I remember what happened tonight. When you stopped, I kept walking because I was distracted." She smiled at Spike. "If it weren't for your damned cancer sticks, I'd be dead."   
-----  
"Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now -- you have to take care of each other. You have to tell Angel, it will be all right. It was worth everything, these last few months. It would have been worth it for one more morning. You have to be strong. Dawn. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me." She wipes a tear away, taking the moment to memorize Dawn's face. She kisses her, and she turns and runs toward the end of the platform. As Dawn watches, crying Buffy sails down into and disappears in white light, causing the energy to go even wilder.

As Buffy falls, her eyes slowly closing, the energy expands and suddenly contracting out of existence. Buffy's dead body hits the ground. The smoke clears, and the Gang comes slowly toward her. Dawn, having climbed down, the farthest behind, is the most alone. Xander carries Anya, and Willow weeps openly. As does Spike, who hides from the coming sunlight, collapsing in wretched sobs at his failure, at the death of his love. Giles comes the closest, standing over the body of his Slayer, the others folding in behind.   
-----  
Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn and Fred move through the garden. They are tired but glad to be home. "That portal jumpin's a fun ride, sell it to a theme park, we could make some money.

"You're sure about that?" Fred continues her interrogation of Cordelia. 

"Trust me, tacos everywhere, and soap." Fred smiles.

"Can I say it? I'm going to say it." Angel almost seems to vibrate with joy.

"Say what?" Wesley asks as they all enter from the garden.

"There's no place like ..." Angel stops talking. Spike sits alone on the round couch, the hand holding his cigarette shaking. He looks like a man who's just fallen off a building. "Spike?"

"Hi. What's ..." Cordelia stops speaking, realizing something is very wrong. In the two years of their shaky alliance with the chipped vampire, she'd never seen him look so terrible. 

His eyes are rimmed red, and Angel doesn't even need to ask. "It's Buffy."  
-----  
"I never thought I'd be doing this. I'd always seen myself in those chairs down there, somewhere in the back, watching them put her into the ground, knowing in the end I'd won. Well, things change. For the better part of three years, Buffy and I spent most of our time trying to kill each other. Then, a man came to me, and warned me about what my future could be like. Maybe that was when it started. That was the year I lost Dru, and I was bitter. Then, that same man came back, and changed my life again. He knew what I couldn't even imagine. Most of you that know me think I just hung around because I had no where else to go. You're in shock that Buffy's Will asked me to give the first speech, and this is the first time you've ever heard me call her by her true name. None of you realized I had fallen in love with her."   
-----  
"I never wanted to do this either. I'm sure none of did. When Buffy and I first met, she knocked me head over heels, literally. We spent most of her high school years together. Most of all, I'm glad we had the chance to see what our future could hold." He pulled a ring from his pocket. "She wore this for three years, and only recently did I tell her what it meant to my people. She told me that when the time was right, she wanted to make it official." The claghad glittered in the moonlight. "I'm glad I haven't made the mistakes I could have. Without Buffy, I would have been dwelling on the past too much, regretting not being able to save everyone. It could have been one of the biggest mistakes in my life. But my friends, and my beloved saved me. I still loved her as much as the day I first saw her, and that I will for the rest of my existence. I'm not even surprised Spike feels the same way about her. We're more alike than either of us would ever want to admit. We both fell in love with sunshine, and got burned."  
-----  
"I'm sure none of you expected to see me again. I wasn't expecting the call that came just a few hours after I landed in Nicaragua. The call that told me Buffy was dead. She was a freshman in the Psyche class I was TA for. I knew from the moment I saw her, as soon as I recovered from the head blow, that she was someone special. She already had a boyfriend, but I didn't realize until later that Angel was much more than that. I pursued her though, hoping her long distance relationship would fail. Then, I began to see Buffy could never love me. Oh, she cared for me, and if I hadn't been in love with her, it would have been enough. I had to leave, even though she came to stop me. Buffy always knew that I loved her, even before we met for the first time. But when they found out what I was doing, I got out of this town so fast, I left my wallet behind. Now, I'll always regret I wasn't there when she died. I couldn't make her love me, so I ran, as far as I could, and by the time I was done running, Buffy was gone."  
-----  
The bottle passed between the three of them silently. Neither had said anything since coming back from Willie's. Spike stared at the amber liquid in his shot glass. "Well, mates, where do we go from here?"

"Someone has to stay here. Like it or not, I have work to finish in LA. I can't leave, not now."

"I have to go back tomorrow morning. We're in the middle of a purge." Riley looked to Spike. "What about you?"

"It's not like I can live like the master I was and have happily ever after, is it?" He said sarcastically. "I'll stay here, keep an eye on the kid, make sure there aren't too many vampires running around."

"The Slayer's Slayer, mourning her, getting drunk." Riley muttered, well on the way to being drunk himself. That's why he didn't think it was odd when an ethereally beautiful woman appeared in the center of the room. "Isn't that interesting. I'm drunker than I thought."

"I don't even have a buzz yet." Spike commented. "And who the bloody hell are you?"

The only detraction from her beauty was the tears running down her face. "I am Destiny."

"Get out of here." Spike jumped to his feet. "You're not welcome here, not after what just happened."

"I didn't know." The weeping got worse. "They never told me. They said that if the three of them were willing to sacrifice it all, the world would be a better place. I didn't know they died for three months. I didn't know it was so she could die for them, rather than for Chance."

She looked so pitiful, they couldn't help but believe her. While Riley poured her a drink, Spike pulled out three notebooks. "They came to me in India." No one asked who. "By then, Will getting sick, and Liam felt his time was running out. They stayed with me about a week, until one morning Liam didn't wake up. His body disappeared right after we found it. Will left these books with me, and took off. A few weeks later, one of my minions showed up. He thought I'd been killed fighting some demon or another. That's the only clue I have to figuring what happened to Will." 

There was a letter attached to the cover of Angel's book, and he opened it. 

To our three otherselves,  
You probably won't realize it until I mention it, but as you spoke to each of us, we knew things about the others we shouldn't have know. Liam, Riley, and I weren't exactly friends, not until this adventure. We knew we were going to die, and we didn't want what happened to us to be forgotten. When we weren't stalking Buffy and Angel, or working on that prophecy, we wrote these. That's how I knew about the drugging incident with Rebecca, and Riley knew about Alcatha. We don't want to be forgotten, and that's up to you. Do not open until Buffy's death. 

Riley opened his first. They read in silence, while Destiny did her best to defy immortal constitution and get drunk. "Books falling on my head. Then later, the thing with the vampires."

Spike wiped away a bloody tear. "Coming to Sunnydale, and kidnapping Red and the Boy. The Gem of Amara, and getting this damned chip."

Angel swallowed. "It's all different."

"What?" Spike and Riley shouted in unison.

"It's all different. I've never heard of Alcatha, and Buffy never ran away that summer. She met Anne working a part time job while visiting her father. No zombies, she shot down Scott Hope, Faith was our inside man for the mayor. There's stuff in here about a day I was human, that Buffy never let happen. A lot about Darla, and how I couldn't kill her, and the downward spiral I went through. The only thing that stayed the same was Wolfram and Hart." Angel looked at Destiny. "I don't understand."

"Free will. They never took free will into account. You and Buffy are soul mates, but Spike doesn't have a soul. And as far as I can tell, Riley was never supposed to leave the Marines to join the Initiative. The other side must have been responsible for it. But I can tell you this, what you did wasn't for nothing. If Buffy hadn't been there, Dawn would have jumped into the portal. But that wouldn't have closed it, it would have split it wide open. I never knew, until afterward, Buffy was always the intended sacrifice."

"So that's it? There's nothing we can do?" Angel shattered his glass against the wall. "She's gone, and all our hearts are left black and blue?" 

Destiny had no answer for him.

****

THE END  
(OR MAYBE NOT)

Endnotes: This story was written in honor of the Backstreet Boys Black and Blue concert, held tomorrow morning, in Albany. My friend, and co-conspirator, Sailor Twilight, myself, and five of our closest friends will be attending. I vowed to have this finished by midnight tonight, and with the exception of the soon to be NC-17 interlude, this story is complete. Thank you for your readership. 

Black and Blue  
Created: Wednesday, March 21, 2001  
Completed: Friday, June 29, 2001 

   [1]: /group/Buffy-Adult-Fiction/post?protectID=219233250237018132050038203245129208071



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